Here is a custom test press I made from scratch using 5 inch box steel with 1/4 inch walls on it. First I cut up all of the steel using a band saw. I made the initial base by making a square with 45 degree mitered edges. Then I made a cross with the box iron and welded it inside the square to give it a very rigid test section. After this was done a 1/4 steel plate was ordered to size and tacked on top of the base. On the bottom part of the base I drilled and tapped 16 holes to mount the wheels. Then I made adapter plates to attach a pneumatic cylinder with threaded rod or bolts.
I have made a lot of these loading adapters over the years. They are 2” rod that has been drilled and tapped with a lathe. You can attach various pieces with a set screw to get different heights. There are also various adapters to go from the extensions to all of the loading cylinders, load cells and some feet for it.
You can dial in the air pressure and use the gauge to verify. It is a simple calculation from converting a air pressure to lbs of force when you have all of the specifications for a pneumatic cylinder.
This Pneumatic Valve allows you to load, unload, and hold. The gold pieces on it are supposed to be mufflers. It is still pretty loud.
This was used in K-TRAN: KU-08-3 ▪ FINAL REPORT ▪ January 2013: Tolerable Strains for Hot Mix Asphalt Overlays over Concrete Pavements
Click to access KU-08-3_Final.pdf
MadMatMax 